By now the water was close to spa temperature. All conversation in the cove had died. The swimmers looked down at the vapor collecting at the surface, rising up around them like morning mist on an upland lake. No one said a word, to each other or to Leicester.
Finally, the boy who had been speaking with the headmaster broke away and stepped into the water. He stumbled backward with a yelp of surprise and sat down, hard, on the rocks. Gregory Leicester swung around and stared at the boys in the water and the steam boiling up around them. Then he began searching the faces of the boys in the water until he found Seph.
Try as he might, Seph couldn't look away. The headmaster stood, studying him like a specimen on a slide. No questions, no disbelief, no challenge or confusion, only this intense and clinical scrutiny, as if he were looking into Seph's soul with full knowledge of what lay within. Then Leicester smiled like it was Christmas.
Shuddering, Seph took a step backward.
The headmaster's gaze shifted to include the whole group. “Gentlemen, perhaps it is a bit brisk for swimming after all. You are dismissed to your own pursuits until dinner.”
For a moment, no one moved. Then the exodus began, silent as lemmings in reverse. Seph left the water on the far side of the cove, keeping as much distance between himself and Leicester as possible. He pulled his sweatshirt and jeans over his wet skin and picked up his shoes, unwilling to linger long enough to put them on. Slinging his towel about his shoulders, he followed the others toward the woods.
“Joseph.”
Seph froze in midstride and stood waiting without turning around. The headmaster's gaze pressed on the back of his neck.
“Come up to my office after dinner. I think it's time I explained a bit more about our program.”
Seph nodded and walked on, into the trees.
Chapter Three
A Magical Collaborative
Seph awoke to a loud pounding. Still groggy, he stumbled to his door and opened it. It was Trevor, dressed for the outdoors, smiling tentatively.
“Seph. Supper's at seven thirty. We have time before then, if you want to look around.”
Seph rubbed his eyes and looked back at his bed. “Sure. Thanks. I'm glad you knocked. I might've slept right through.” He yawned. “Do we have to dress for dinner?”
“Collared shirt or sweater. No jeans or sweats.”
“Okay. Give me a minute.”
Trevor hovered by the door while Seph changed his clothes and ran his fingers through his hair. They descended the stairs and pushed through the front doors.
The frail autumn daylight had already fled. It would have been pitch-black under the trees, save for the tiny lights that outlined the paths between buildings. Seph braced himself for questions or comments about the peculiar events in the cove, but none came, so Seph said, “That was pretty weird. What happened at swimming, I mean.”
“You never know what's going to happen around here,” Trevor said, shrugging.
“What do you mean? Are you saying weird things have happened before I—before now?”
“I mean nothing.” Trevor hunched his shoulders like a turtle retreating into his shell.
“I ran into this guy in the woods. A student, I think, kind of stocky, with glasses and an inhaler. Do you know who that would've been?”
Trevor looked him in the eyes. “I don't recollect anyone like that.”
Seph debated whether to force the issue. He guessed he could get what he wanted from Trevor. But decided not to push it. It's my first day, he thought. I can use all the friends I can get.
Trevor took his role as tour guide seriously, pointing out features of the campus: the tennis courts, the amphitheater.
“There's almost a hundred students here, freshmen through seniors. They come from all over, and a lot of them get scholarships. There's also a bunch of alumni living here on campus, doing research with Dr. Leicester.” They passed more dormitory buildings. “All the dorms are pretty much the same. The alumni have their own dorm, cafeteria, and commons area.”
“Why would alumni hang around on campus after graduation?” Seph asked. “What about college?”
Trevor looked away, focusing on the path ahead. “You'd have to ask them.”
They walked through Gareth Hall, the classroom building, past empty lecture halls. “School's been going for a couple weeks, so you're going to have to catch up with your assignments,” Trevor said. “Let me know if you need help with anything.”
The art and music building was farther north along the shoreline. “They make us all take a musical instrument,” Trevor explained. Seph nodded. Typical. He'd brought along his saxophone.
Next Trevor led him down to the waterfront and out onto the dock. “Dr. Leicester's a sailing fanatic. Our sailing team has held the Atlantic Seaboard Scholastic Cup for three years. Everyone helps.”
“Mmmm,” Seph replied, committing himself to nothing. He couldn't very well tell Trevor he expected to be gone by Christmas, given the start he'd made at the cove.
“This is our boathouse.” Trevor pushed open the door to the small, weather-beaten building Seph had noticed when he arrived. It was a plain, square wooden structure with a rough planked floor. A narrow wooden walkway ran along the far side of the room, surrounding the boat slip. The water sucked and slapped at the pilings underneath. The building smelled of marine gasoline and what Seph assumed to be fish guts.
“They keep the motorboat in here most all the time, and sometimes the sailboats if they need to be fixed. You'll get really good at slapping on varnish, believe me.”
That was no problem. Seph was used to hard work. He'd spent every summer cleaning and changing beds and washing dishes at Genevieve's bed-and-breakfast.
“Time to eat,” Trevor announced, and turned back toward shore.
The dining hall was on the first floor of the admin, building, with a full wall of glass overlooking the water. Servers circulated through the room, clearing tables and refilling water glasses.
In addition to burgers and pizza, there was hand-carved roast beef, a fish entree, a sauté of the day, a vegetarian wrap, grilled sandwich, and a salad bar. Could be worse. Seph had been raised to appreciate good food, but he wasn't a snob.
Seph scanned the dining room, but he saw no sign of the boy with the glasses.
He and Trevor carried their trays to a large, rectangular table by the window. A half dozen boys were already seated there. Conversation died away when Trevor and Seph sat down, but then everyone took turns introducing themselves. Troy was a small, scholarly-looking black student, dressed in a white dress shirt and bow tie. Harrison had the kind of clean-cut, preppy look that is often misleading, while James was blunt and cocky with overdyed black hair and multiple piercings and tattoos.
Troy was from Philadelphia. “I've been in public school, private school, every religious school you can think of,” he explained. “They said I was hyperactive.” Seph found that hard to believe, given his buttoned-down appearance. Troy was a senior, and said he hoped to attend Yale the following year.
Harrison and James were juniors, Harrison from San Diego and James from Houston. Both readily admitted to a history of heavy partying.
“I had a trust fund, you know?” Harrison said, stuffing down the last bite of a burger and chasing it with soda. “So I didn't see much point in school. I got high a lot, cut class a lot. Meanwhile, my parents were spending all their time getting a divorce. Then my grandfather said I had to come here, or there would be no more money. I guess I forgot that a trust fund has a trustee.” He laughed loudly and punched Seph playfully in the shoulder.
This place is full of misfits, Seph thought, rubbing his shoulder. Just like me.
Well, not exactly like me.
Once again, he waited for mention of the incident of the cove, but it didn't come up. It might as well have never happened.
“What about you?” James asked Seph. “How'd you end up here?”
“I had to leave my last school.” Seph tilted back a bit from the table, resting his palms on the edge of the hardwood, rocking back in his chair. “I had a difference of opinion with the administration.”
“About what?” Troy leaned forward.
“They thought I should come to class,” Seph replied, making eye contact with each of them. “I had other priorities.”
“Like what?” Harrison grinned in anticipation.
“You know. Hanging out with girls. Hacking into the school computer.” He rocked forward, so all four legs of the chair struck the floor with a bang. “Skinny-dipping in the faculty pool.”
This brought hoots of laughter from Harrison, smiles all around. An end to the inquisition.
Time to change the subject, he thought. Seph never had any difficulty directing a conversation. “How do I get my schedule? I guess I should've asked Dr. Leicester about it.”
“They'll deliver it to your room before Sunday night, with the books you'll need,” Trevor replied.
Seph went through the rest of his usual list of questions. All the students had mailboxes in the administration building. He could get money at the cashier's office, but there wasn't much to spend it on. He could use his student card to rent movies and order pizza through the bookstore.
“So what do you do for fun around here?” Seph asked, pushing a last bite of fish around his plate.
“Not much,” Troy replied. “Watch movies, hang out. And hey, you can go see the bears and raccoons at the Dumpster.”
Harrison added, “There's lots of sports, like crosscountry skiing and snowboarding. Sailing's over, but it'll start up again in the spring. Over at the rec. center you can do tennis and racquetball.” He shrugged. “That's about it.”
“Don't worry about having nothing to do,” Trevor said, rolling his eyes. “They work us pretty hard.”
“What about girls?” Seph had attended boys' schools before, but mostly in cities, where there was ample opportunity for socializing.